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POLITICO 44

Just minutes after signing the special election schedule into law Monday evening, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) said he would announce his intentions to run for the late Sen. Robert Byrd’s (D-W.Va.) Tuesday morning.

“We’re going to have the bill signing tonight, and I believe that will officially start the filing period tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m,” said Manchin, who is widely expected to announce he will run for the seat Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.

Manchin signed into law a bill Monday evening that would schedule the special primary for Aug. 28 and the general election for Nov. 2. State lawmakers were able to pass the bill after granting a major concession to Republicans: The law makes way for Rep. Shelley Moore Capito to run for the Senate seat and for reelection to her House seat if she wants.

If the legislation did not pass, Manchin would have been forced to call the special election himself – a politically precarious position for the popular Democratic governor given his interest in the seat. To avoid this scenario, Manchin pushed lawmakers until the last possible minute to pass legislation including rescheduling a press conference with reporters three times on Monday.

“I just wish Washington could come together as well as we come together,” Manchin told reporters in late Monday evening press conference.

The legislation appeared to be on its deathbed Sunday night, when Republicans held out their support for a provision that would allow Moore Capito to run for re-election to her House seat and in the Senate special election on the November ballot. West Virginia election code does not allow candidates to run for more than one office on the same ballot, and the current law forced the party’s best candidate to choose between running for Senate and running for re-election to her House seat on Nov. 2.

State Sen Mike Oliverio, the point man for his chamber on the legislation, said that House and Senate leaders came to an agreement Monday on the issue. The final bill states that the special general election for the Senate seat is a “separate election” from the general election on Nov. 2 and only applies to this year’s contest.

“There was some fighting over who could and couldn’t run,” Oliverio said. “We’ve tried to address that by making it clear that this is a separate and distinct election and anybody running the special election could do so if they choose to do that.”

Moore Capito is expected to announce whether she will run later this week. If she does decide to run, she will have a great advantage because of the more than $550,000 she has in her House campaign account that she could put towards a Senate race. Manchin would start off his campaign with no campaign funds, but could likely raise money quickly as a sitting governor.

Manchin doesn't look too bad. NRA member opposed to gun control, Pro Life and received high grades for fiscal policy and tax cutting by the CATO Institute. Looks like an old time conservative Democrat. Pushes the Senate to the right just a little.